08 June 2017

Meeting Friedrich Schiller Again in Sibiu (2,140 km)

(Sibiu, 04.06.2017 - 05.06.2017) The first stage of my ongoing motorcycle ride to Romania led to the "Schiller Town" of Marbach am Neckar. Five days and 1733 kilometers later, my first destination in Romania is Sibiu, which does its best to carry on the Friedrich Schiller myth. From my hotel room I have a superb view on Schiller Square with the Schiller Monument at the corner.

Julie Dawson wrote in July 2013: "Earlier this week we went by the 'old' Jewish cemetery in Sibiu to see its condition and check whether German was being used on the headstones (it was). I say 'old' because relatively speaking this cemetery is quite new for Eastern Europe - the earliest stones date only to the mid-19th century, when Jews were first granted residence rights for the city. You wouldn’t know this though, looking at the stones. They are in some of the worse shape I have seen and the cemetery itself is the most overgrown cemetery within a municipal area I have encountered." Four years later nothing has changed, at least not for the better!?